Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Annapolis Boat Show Time!On Display- NEW J/121, J/112E, & J/70
(Annapolis, MD)- With the official start of fall, it’s time to make plans to attend the famous US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD that runs from October 5th to 9th over the Columbus Day holiday weekend. Sailors from around the world gather on miles of docks in beautiful historic Annapolis for this internationally acclaimed sailboat show, recognized as the largest, most prestigious, and only remaining in-water sailboat show in the world.

J/Boats, in partnership with our mid-Atlantic dealer North Point Yacht Sales, will have on display the NEW J/121 offshore speedster, as well as the J/112E cruiser-racer and the famous J/70 one-design speedster.

The new J/121 offshore speedster has received rave reviews from those who have had the privilege to go sailing on her after her worldwide debut in the Newport International Boat Show in September. Like her fellow “speedster” siblings, what amazes those that have steered her is the extraordinary acceleration in the puffs and instant response to finger-tip helm movements on any point of sail. Plus, many remark the twin-wheel system provides excellent visibility forward to waves and tell-tales on the jib. And, what everyone appreciates is the extremely large ergonomic cockpit that provides plenty of “elbow-room” for any sail-handling maneuvers and that it can also handle an “after-race” party of over a dozen friends! Finally, the big surprise for most sailors is the enormous, wide, open, airy interior below. Learn more about the J/121 offshore speedster here

The J/112E cruiser-racer will have her U.S. Sailboat Show debut. After an incredibly successful offshore racing season in Europe, many sailors are waking up to the fact they really can “have their cake and eat it, too!” The J/112E is a “big” 36 footer, with a gorgeous interior designed to satisfy even the most discriminating eye and loaded with creature comforts. After winning her class at SPI Ouest France and in four more events in 2017 across Europe and the United Kingdom, the J/112E has proven herself to be a potent offshore weapon in both IRC and ORC handicap racing events. Learn more about the J/112E here

Finally, the famous ramp-launchable International J/70 will be on display. The class continues to maintain its momentum with over 1,300 boats built in less than four years with class racing taking place in five continents. And, the recent Audi J/70 World Championship featured the largest ever sportboat regatta in history- 175 boats registered to sail the event off Porto Cervo, Sardinia, hosted by YC Costa Smeralda. Learn more about why the “sailing league” concept continues to grow both in Europe and the USA, featuring the easy-to-sail J/70- a boat that is friendly for both women and youth sailors and equally challenging for the world’s best pro sailors. Learn more about the J/70 here
For more U.S. Sailboat Show informationJ/80 North American Championship Announcement
(Eastport, MD)- From the October 20th to 22nd weekend, the Eastport Yacht Club will be hosting the 2017 edition of the J/80 North American Championship on the fabled waters of the northern Chesapeake Bay.

As per their usual high-standards, expect the complete red-carpet treatment from Eastport YC and its members for the J/80 competitors! The EYC PRO promises fair weather, great sailing and a lot of races!

It’s not too late to register NOW for the 2017 J/80 North Americans. Go now to the registration site here on Yachtscoring.com. For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information.
J/70 East Coast Championship Preview
(Deltaville, VA)- The Fishing Bay Yacht Club will be hosting the 2017 J/70 East Coast Championship from Friday, September 29 to Sunday, October 1, 2017. Already, there is a strong group of competitors from around the Bay as well as from places afar and the regatta is a qualifier for the 2018 J/70 World Championship to be held next September in Marblehead, MA.

Fishing Bay Yacht Club is ideally situated at the mouth of the Piankatank River at the Chesapeake Bay, offering a variety of sailing areas to suit the weather conditions. The water temperature will still be mild, and the breezes should allow for excellent racing.

FBYC will be offering a continental breakfast in the mornings prior to racing and dinner on Saturday evening. Of course, FBYC will have their famous regatta bar set up throughout the event, beginning at check-in on Friday afternoon.

FBYC and its members look forward to welcoming you to their gorgeous facilities this fall for another spectacular regatta!

All fleets are about a half-dozen strong. In the J/70s, expect to see Tod Sackett’s FM and Lee Sackett’s AQUA DUMP defending the host clubs’ honors.

In the J/22s, watch out for Mark Stuhlmiller’s EUDAIMONIA from Buffalo YC hoping to overcome the hometown boys from EYC led by quartet of crews- Tim Roberts’ DEUCE, Rick Raymond’s LONDON FOG, Jim Latham’s RAMBLE ON, and Mike Meaney’s MEANIAC.

Similarly, the trio in J/105s from EYC hope have a least a representative or two on the podium between Jim Uhlier’s TRIO, Cindy Einhouse’s OVATION, and Robert Mock’s DARK HORSE. For more Cleveland 216 Regatta sailing informationJ/24 Italy Handicap Children Benefit
(Porto Rotondo, Sardinia, Italy)- In the waters of Porto Rotondo, the Italian J/24 class and its fleet on Sardinia are hosting a benefit for handicap children, to give them the eye-opening experience of sailing on the deep blue emerald waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

"While waiting for the 2018 J/24 season, I would like to propose you to participate in the seventh edition of the Vita da aMare event,” explains Captain of the Sardinia J/24 Fleet- Marco Frulio. “The event, sponsored by the municipal administration of Olbia in collaboration with the Lombardy Region, will allow people with different handicap abilities, coming from the peninsula and the city of Olbia, to enjoy and experience three days sailing in the sea of the Gallurian coast.”

For the event, Boomerang Yachting Charter company will make available its J/24s to accommodate one hundred children and fifty volunteers. The children with different abilities will be under the responsibility of adult captains to skipper the 18 boats provided by Boomerang.

"At the seventh edition of Vita da aMare, about one hundred special children and some fifty volunteers and expert sailors are expected. This event took place last year in Genoa. The initiative enjoys the logistical support of the Italian Red Cross organization. In the weeks before the event, the Yachting Club of Porto Rotondo held a presentation about the importance of the event for handicap children and for the sport of sailing in Italy. The presenters included the organizer (Claudio Pedrazzini- the head of FIV in the Lombard Regional Council), the Mayor and the Councilor of Tourism in Olbia (Settimo Nizzi and Marco Balata), the President of Porto Rotondo Consortium (Leonardo Salvemini), Boomerang (Angelo Usai) and entrepreneur Paolo Berlusconi.

"The event started eight years ago, thanks to the idea of a group of friends who wanted to share the passion for sailing with less fortunate people. And so," said Claudio Pedrazzini, "something unique has come about not only to people with different fragility but to all those who are able to make themselves available to others with great sensibility. Every year we take the challenge and, at the same time, we grow. This year, thanks to the support of Angelo Usai of Boomerang, our children will have at their disposal 18 boats."

"Being able to help handicapped children at least for the three days of the event is a wonderful thing. Our community,” said the Mayor of Olbia- Settimo Nizzi, “will support the event to make it unforgettable to all those who are participating."

For Marco Balata, Councilor of Tourism in Olbia, this is the “crystallization of a project born about a year ago and that is part of the sector where there is so much to do in our country: the so-called accessible tourism. As soon as we started contacts with Pedrazzini, we immediately thought of dedicating the event to the memory of Patrizia Bigi."

On the same tone, the organizer of the event, Angelo Usai: "We are not new to this kind of initiative," said Boomerang, a nautical tourism company. “Although in the past, we welcomed handicap people on board to sail boats in Italy, we are still well behind compared to other nations like Germany."

For Leonardo Salvemini, President of Porto Rotondo Consortium, “We are here to thank the special people who will come here. Well-done initiatives like these are important for Italian society and important for broadening the positive social impact of the sport of sailing for everyone.”

Paolo Berlusconi also expressed words of appreciation for the initiatives. "Getting to Porto Rotondo and talking about disability and volunteering is good for the heart," said the entrepreneur, "and makes us understand that man is also capable of doing good things to include all manner of handicapped sailors.”

For those of you looking to start enjoying the festivities surrounding this year's regatta early, you'll want to get here before 4pm Friday, October 20th, to enjoy the two planned celebrity races on Clear Lake the afternoon before the J/Fest Southwest Regatta.

The celebrities include Jeff Johnstone, Scott Young, Farley Fontenot and Jay Lutz. They will be sailing J/24s loaned out by the J/24 Fleet. Each boat will have their celebrity name across the mainsail. There will be on the water judging and spectators can watch the action from the newly opened Barge 295, in the location of the old Turtle Club. Live commentary will include humor and historical tidbits for additional entertainment value- sailing’s version of “fake news”- up to you to determine what’s “real”- prizes later for those who are right!!

The 8th Annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta will be raced on Galveston Bay October 21-22, and this year's event marks 40 years of J/Boat history. With over 50 boats entered so far, 2017 will be a landmark regatta.

Don't miss the Oct. 14th registration Deadline. The entry is just $95 for all classes. Racers who register by 1700 hours on Oct. 14 will receive a free t-shirt and two wristbands to get you into the post-race dinner and party at Lakewood YC.

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

The penultimate weekend of September marked the end of summer and the beginning of fall for sailors in the northern hemisphere. Nevertheless, it also marked one of the busier weeks of sailing for the 2017 yachting season both in Europe and North America.

Starting with Canada, we find yet another excellent turnout for the J/24 World Championship that was sailed on Lake Ontario, just off the amazing city-front of Toronto. Host was the Port Credit YC in Mississauga, ONT, Canada- finally, a Canadian won the Worlds!

Also, several other major events took place in the Americas. Down on the Chesapeake Bay, the J/35 North American Championship was hosted by the Annapolis YC for a fleet of over a dozen boats! Then, the weekend before the J/22 East Coast Championship was hosted by Eastport YC. Further up the northeast coastline, the American YC Fall Series sailed its first weekend on western Long Island Sound for one-design fleets of J/70s, J/88s, J/105s, J/109s, & J/44s and a PHRF handicap fleet for J/111s and J/122s.

Meanwhile, out West, the 22nd annual J/FEST San Diego Regatta was hosted by the San Diego YC for one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s, & J/120s and a PHRF Navigators Race for more J/crews. Then, the weekend before, the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco Bay (e.g. the SSS) held their annual single and doublehanded Half Moon Bay Race; a trio of J/120s enjoyed their silverware haul!

Hopping over the Atlantic Ocean to the east, we find the British held their first J/70 Sailing League Finale at Royal Thames YC’s based at Cowes, Isle of Wight- they had three great days of sailing on the infamous Solent. Just off to the southeast on the Bay of Biscay, French sailors enjoyed their Atlantic Telegramme Regatta in Lorient, France that included one-design fleets of J/70s & J/80s and offshore handicap racing for a J/111 and J/122.

Over on the Mediterranean, thirty-two teams from across Europe all qualified to sail in the AUDI SAILING Champions League, an event sailed in identically-matched and equipped J/70s at YC Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, Italy. The regatta determined the “Best Sailing Club in Europe” for 2017! Still further northeast, in fact about 400 km east of Moscow, Russia, the 6th stage of the Russian J/70 Sailing League took place at Nizhny Novgorod, Russia- at the confluence of the famous Volga River and the Oka River; the eleven teams that took part were challenged by a devilish combination of current and significant wind streaks and shifts!

Finally, headed still further east, the thirty-seven teams from across China sailed a huge fleet of J/80s off Shenzen, China to compete for honors in the 13th China Club Challenge Match over the course of a three-day weekend and a total of eleven races!

Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook pag Below are the summaries.

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.Milev Crowned J/24 World Champion!SEA BAGS Women’s Sailing Team Top Women’s!
(Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)- For those who place in the bottom third in the first race of a World Championship, look to Rossi Milev’s CLEAR AIR for inspiration. The local team overcame double-digit finishes in the first three of eight races to become the 2017 victors at the driveHG.ca J/24 World Championship in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and hosted by the incredibly friendly and gracious members of Port Credit YC.

Going into Saturday’s final day of competition, Milev trailed Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET by 5 points. Nailing a second-place in the only light-air contest earned CLEAR AIR the title with 47 net points. Parker ended just one point back, settling for the silver position after a very consistent week of sailing. Ariko Murohashi’s LULL of Japan claimed the bronze spot with 62 points.

Milev was an integral player in his club— Port Credit YC— earning hosting duties for this Championship. “It hasn’t sunk it,” beamed Milev. “The first race went against us, but I said ‘don’t give up, it’s a long regatta.’ We just plugged away.”

Crew Gayle Gray (mast), Mark Goodyear (trim), Jon Messenger (tactics) and Jeremy Edwards (bow) were up to the challenge in the persistently light air affair. Milev continued, “We had great speed all around, and could hold the lane. We sailed the rig a little bit lighter than what the tuning guide says. You never know when your time will come. You try to figure out what’s going on, but it wasn’t easy!”

The Jaeger Women’s Trophy- emblematic of the top women’s team at the J/24 Worlds- was awarded to Erica Beck Spencer’s Sea Bags Women's Sailing Team. And, the Turner Trophy- emblematic of the top Under-25 team was awarded to Finn Hadlock, skippering BOREAS.

Sixty-three teams from Argentina, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru and the USA competed in the 2017 J/24 Worlds in Canada and it was tough sailing in the predominantly light-air conditions on Lake Ontario, taking place right off Toronto’s picturesque and magnificent city waterfront. Here is how it all unfurled over the four days of competition.

DAY 1- Light & shifty
Fickle breeze was the theme of the opening day and the sailors endured winds around 6 knots to complete two races. Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET and James Freedman’s MISS CONDUCT were tied at 9 pts each, with Parker holding that tie-breaker by way of a 7-2 on Tuesday (Freedman earned a 4-5) for the early advantage. David Klatt’s JADED and Mark Laura’s BABA LOUIE sat tied at 21 pts each for third and fourth place, respectively.

A big wind shift in the opening contest doomed teams to the left, but benefited Klatt’s JADED and two Japanese teams (Nobuyuki Imai’s SIESTA and Einosuke Morita’s WAILEA) who comprised the top three. Aidan Glackin’s MENTAL FLOSS took line honors in the second race, ahead of Parker’s BANGOR PACKET and Blair Dinsdale’s JOURNEY.

DAY 2- Moderate breeze & sunshine!
To the delight of sailors, Mother Nature provided more consistent breeze and sunshine on the second day of racing. As the conditions improved, so did the lead for Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET, who notched a 5-8 on Wednesday to bring him to 22 overall points after four races. Scott Milne’s TREMENDOUS SLOUCH moved into second place with 48 points, and James Freedman’s MISS CONDUCT slipped to third with 51 pts. Look for a shake-up in the standings when five or more races have been completed, as the discard kicks in.

The competitors appreciated Wednesday’s 8-10 knots as another two contests went in the books. Evan Petley-Jones’ LIFTED won race three, trailed by Freedman’s MISS CONDUCT and Ariko Murohashi’s LULL. Local Rossi Milev’s CLEAR AIR took the next victory, with Petley-Jones and David Klatt’s JADED completing the top three.

DAY 3- More light airs!
If good things come to those who wait, then Evan Petley-Jones’ LIFTED is the perfect example on day three. The teams waited a multiple hour, on-water postponement, hoping for enough breeze to get a start off. Finally, around 3:30 p.m., light winds allowed two more races to be completed, which brought into effect the discard.

Petley-Jones’ LIFTED tallied a 7-1 on Thursday to leap into first place overall, able to drop a 39 from race 1. Parker’s BANGOR PACKET fell to second place with 32 points. John Mollicone’s HELLY HANSEN launched up to the third spot with 33 net points after tossing a 52 from Tuesday. Six races are now finalized.

The competitors started race 5 in about 5 knots, when Nobuyuki Imai’s SIESTA collected the win. Mollicone and Ted Bartlewski’s DRIVERS WANTED followed. Looking at Petley-Jones cross the finish line first in the next meeting were David Klatt’s JADED and Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER when winds increased slightly.

DAY 4- Even more light airs!
Light winds continued out on Lake Ontario, as just one race was accomplished on day four. Parker’s BANGOR PACKET returned to the top of the leaderboard, placing eighth today, leaving him with 40 net points heading into the final day of competition on Saturday. A fourth by Milev’s CLEAR AIR moved him into second overall, five points off Parker’s pace. Evan Petley-Jones’ LIFTED scored a 28th in Friday’s lone battle, dropping him to third place with 49 points.

Parker, from Washington D.C., has remained in the top two each day of the Championship. He is the most seasoned racer on the course, sailing 1978 J/24 hull #58, a testimony to the J/24’s quality and ruggedness, and the skill and consistency of the crew at this event. Parker is a five-time winner of the J/24 US East Coast Championship (which he has sailed 38 times).

DAY 5- Light Finale!
For the finale on Saturday, all Parker’s BANGOR PACKET crew had to do was finish within six places of Milev’s CLEAR AIR to assure them his first J/24 World Championship title. Alternatively, Parker’s crew could match-race Milev’s team into the bottom of the fleet, knowing Milev had a 46th for a toss race and BANGOR PACKET only had a 15th for a toss race. In either case, the formula appeared to be straight-forward in terms of execution. Nevertheless, in the end, CLEAR AIR lived up to its namesake, escaping and getting clear air to sail off around the track and score a 2nd to BANGOR PACKET’s 9th, thus winning by just 1 pt.

Rounding out the top five were Evan Petley-Jones LIFTED taking the tie-breaker over Carter White’s YOU REGATTA at 68 pts each. For more J/24 World Championship sailing informationEurope’s "Best Sailing Club“ 2017- YC Costa Smeralda!
(Hamburg, Germany/ Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy)- The 2017 Audi SAILING Champions League Finale took place in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, exactly one week after the conclusion of the epic Audi J/70 World Championship. Organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, in collaboration with the SAILING Champions League, and with the support of title sponsor Audi, and Technical Partner Quantum Sails, a maximum of 48 races were scheduled over the three-day event and the 32 competing teams had until the close of play on Sunday, the 24th of September to claim the title of “Best Sailing Club 2017”. The teams were competing in eight perfectly-matched J/70s with new Quantum Sails supplied for the event.

After the entire 48 races were sailed, 12 in total for each team, it was the YC Costa Smeralda team of Flavio Favini, Federico Michetti, Branko Brcin, and Luca Faravelli that took home the grand prize and were crowned the 2017 “Best Sailing Club” in Europe. Here is how it all took place over the course of three days. Here is the complete SAILING Champions League Finale- Team Introductions

Day 1- Classic seabreeze
Fourteen races were completed on the first day. Racing got underway at 12.30 after an hour’s wait for the breeze to fill in. At the conclusion of five hours at sea, three full flights had been completed along with two races of the fourth of a total of 12 scheduled flights. The 32 participating teams did battle on the regatta course of Porto Cervo accompanied by a southeasterly breeze of 10-12 kts that built to around 15 kts over the course of the afternoon. Each race saw eight teams take to the starting line aboard one-design J/70 craft for fast races of approximately 10 to 15 minutes’ duration each.

With day one’s racing filed away the home club- YC Costa Smeralda- team topped the overall leaderboard with three wins in three races! Just one point behind in second place was the Swiss team Société Nautique de Genève (Guillaume Girod – Marc Stern – Nicolas Kauffmann – Mathieu Fischer) with a 1-1-2 scoreline. In third place, four points behind and with four races run, was the Russian team LORD OF THE SAIL– EUROPE (Evgeny Neugodnikov – Viacheslav Ermolenko – Iurii Popov – Sergey Musikhin).

Flavio Favini, an America’s Cup sailor and helm of the YCCS team declared: “We didn’t expect this result today, we didn’t get a chance to practice over the past few days. We’re really happy because we managed to get 3 wins one after the other, but there is still a lot to work on. Today’s conditions were fantastic, racing in 10-12 knots of breeze was great.” After the day at sea, crews gathered in Piazza Azzurra for the Opening Ceremony. Day 1 Highlight video

Day 2- Maximum Racing Day
It was a busy day for the teams that saw them reach a tally of nine flights completed. Racing ran perfectly to schedule with teams taking to the regatta course at 1000 hrs and completing 22 races over the course of more than 7 hours at sea accompanied by a 12-13 knot south-easterly breeze. This brought the participating Clubs to a total of 36 races run out of a maximum possible 48.

Competition was incredibly close at the top of the leaderboard where each point counted towards losing or retaining a podium position today.

The YCCS team gave a mixed performance, alternating top finishes with low scores, but they maintained their lead of the overall classification, thanks to victory in the final race. The extremely competitive Société Nautique de Genève team sat just one point behind the Italians and posted a 5-3-1-6-2-3 scoreline. In third place were the Russians on LORD OF THE SAIL- EUROPE; they came back from taking an OCS in day’s second race with a victory in the third (4-OCS-1-3-2).

Guillaume Girod, Swiss Laser sailor and helmsman of Société Nautique de Genève, commented on the day’s events: “At the start of racing we weren’t very consistent, but we got better towards the end and finished in the top three so it went well! The crew has trained, they took part in the Audi J/70 World Championship last week and we also sailed together for a few days before this race but we can always learn more. We were more aggressive in our starts today compared to yesterday and we will try to improve again for tomorrow’s final day.”

After a full day of competition, teams gathered in the evening for a Team BBQ Dinner at the YCCS Clubhouse in Porto Cervo. Day 2 Highlight video

Day 3- Fantastic Finale
A decisive final day saw the team from the host club YCCS claim the title of “Best Sailing Club 2017”. The event, organized by the YC Costa Smeralda in collaboration with the SAILING Champions League and with the support of title sponsor Audi and technical partner Quantum Sails, concluded Sunday after competitors completed the full schedule of 12 flights of races over the three-day program.

At 1000 hrs, the teams took to the starting line off Porto Cervo for the final sprint. After approximately 5 hours on the race course, with wind conditions that reached 20 knots and swung from southeast to northwest, prompting repositioning of the race area, the full quota of 48 races was completed.

The Italian team representing YCCS, in the lead from day one, secured victory with a first place finish (bringing them to 6 wins in total) and two second places in Sunday’s racing.

Federico Michetti from the YCCS team was delighted with the result, “It is a great honor to represent the Best Sailing Club 2017. It’s been a great day and a great weekend spent with fantastic friends Flavio Favini on the helm, Branko Brcin and Luca Faravelli together with Filippo Molinari as Team Captain. They were great teammates and I can’t think of a better way to round off the sporting season! There were a lot of strong teams here, a lot of young sailors and I really think this is a winning formula!!”

Thanks to two victories and a second place today the Russian team of OST LEGAL SAILING (Vladimir Lipavsky, Andrey Kochnev, Egor Larionov, Nikolay Korneva) climbed up the leaderboard to claim second place four points clear of the Swiss team of Société Nautique de Genève in third place with a 4-6-2 scoreline.

“Luckily we had a good today, we finished in seventh place overall yesterday so we thought we might not get onto the podium. But, today we were concentrated and we had a bit of luck as well so we were able to finish in second place,” exclaimed Andrey Kochnev of OST LEGAL SAILING. Their performance was indicative of the high standard of J/70 sailing being achieved by Russian sailors across Europe, building upon the win by Russia’s top woman skipper- Valerya Kovalenko- with her ARTTUBE team at the YC Monaco’s 2017 J/70 Winter Sportsboat Series. In the 2016 SAILING Champions League, there were no Russian crews in the top ten, now in the 2017 edition they placed two Russian teams in the top four. And, the winners of the German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, French, and Austrian sailing leagues finished behind them— an extraordinary achievement in just twelve months!

Speaking about the event during the final prize giving ceremony YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo commented, “The Audi SAILING Champions League brings the YCCS sporting season to a close in this, our 50th anniversary year. I would like to ‘Thank’ all of the 32 teams who travelled from across Europe to take part in three days of thrilling competition. My congratulations got to all the participants and to our own team who honored the YCCS colors. Special thanks must go to the SAILING Champions League Association for collaborating with us on the organization of the event, to the title sponsor Audi, the Race Committee, the International Jury and the staff of YCCS who made this all possible. I hope to see you all here in Porto Cervo during the 2018 sailing season.”

The YC Costa Smeralda will be in Milan from the 3rd to 4th October for the ONE OCEAN Forum, an initiative that aims to promote the safeguard and conservation of the marine environment. During the Forum the “Charta Smeralda” will be presented, a code of conduct comprised of environmentally sustainable principles. A SAILING Champions League Regatta Highlight video.

As the technological partner of the SAILING Champions League, SAP provided spectators worldwide with a professional livestream. Races were commentated and explained for everyone by sailing experts and sailing reporters. All races were broadcast live via the internet Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 pm CEST. SAILING Champion League results and live stream can be found here.
WILD RIDE For J/35 North American Championship!
(Annapolis, MD)- With the “tail feathers” of Hurricane Jose just scraping by on the mid-Atlantic coast, the ten-boat fleet that assembled for the 2017 J/35 North American Championship were expecting to be in for a wild, wild ride during the course of their four-day regatta. However, it was MR BILL’s WILD RIDE that truly gave them a lesson in “wildness”, how to go fast and have a helluva-lotta fun at the same time. The notoriously fun-loving crew of Bill Wildner and friends from Detroit, MI were, ultimately, crowned the winners of this year’s event.

Sailed on the Chesapeake Bay and hosted by the Annapolis YC, the J/35 fleet enjoyed the usual most-excellent red-carpet treatment from AYC and its amazing crew of Race Committee volunteers. The AYC RC and PRO managed to run five races in the difficult sailing conditions. After starting off with 3 straight bullets, Wildner’s crew on the “WILD RIDE” took a breather and dropped back to 3rd place in their fourth race. However, after clearly disappointing themselves with a blemish on what was a perfect record until that time, they put the hammer down again for the 5th and final race to post yet one more bullet to win the series with just 7.0 pts total.

Behind the WILD RIDERS, it was a very close regatta for the balance of the podium and the top five. Taking the silver was Roger Lant’s ABIENTOT with a record of 5-2-3-2-2 for 14.0 pts. Third just three points back was William Vogan’s MAJORD DETAIL with a scorecard of 3-4-4-1-5 for 17 pts total. A scant one point back was Jim Sagerholm & Jerry Christofel’s AUNT JEAN with a 2-3-2-7-4 tally for 18 pts. Rounding out the top five was Bruce Artman’s T-BONE with a 7-5-5-4-6 record for 27 pts. J/35 N.A. Yachtscoring.com results For more J/35 North Americans sailing informationItchenor SC Tops British Sailing League 2017!
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom)- From the 22nd to 24th September, the Royal Yachting Association & the Royal Thames YC hosted the finale for the British Sailing League on the infamous Solent for the top qualifying eighteen teams from across the United Kingdom.

The regatta was modeled after the European J/70 Sailing Leagues- like the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga. It was an inter-club fleet racing competition in supplied J/70 one-design keelboats run by the RYA and the Royal Thames YC. The format was simple- 15-minute races with umpires on the water to adjudicate. Regional qualifiers and a UK finale with the top club being awarded a place in the 2018 Sailing Champions League.

Winning the event was the Itchenor Sailing Club. The team was comprised of Alex Irwin, George Yeoman, Andy Shaw and Ben Saxton. They sailed a nearly perfect regatta, compiling a high-point average of 7.81 pts over 16 races sailed- out of a possible “perfect 8”. In other words, they just about “ran the table” with all 1sts to win by a significant margin over their erstwhile competitors.

Like the first “Round Island Race” back in 1851, when Queen Victoria watched the schooner yacht AMERICA cross the line first, she asked “who is second”? The response purportedly was “Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second.” “Oh dear,” replied the Queen as she apparently walked away to enjoy a mint julep (or twelve) with friends at the Royal Yacht Squadron. Much the same could be said for the outcome of the first British Sailing League finale sailed on J/70s- the Itchenor SC crew was simply dominant.

However, in this event, there was a second place- that was taken by a comfortable margin by the RORC 2 Team with 111 pts and a 6.94 race average for the regatta.

However, the bronze medal was a dog-fight between three teams, ultimately settling the top five on the leaderboard. In what may become the new standard for tie-breakers, imagine sailing sixteen races and find yourself tied with two other teams! OMG, that’s impossible! Well, that was the story on the Solent, off Cowes, in front of “the Castle”.

The three protagonists were Wessex Sailing Club, Cambridge University SC, and Queen Mary SC. In the end, after sixteen races they all scored 97 pts total, for an average of 6.06 for the regatta. The tie-breaker scenario was a bit mind-numbing, but Wessex SC took the bronze, followed by Cambridge USC in 4th and Queen Mary SC in 5th position.

Anyone who participated can tell you that this year’s J/Fest was a weekend full of fun and camaraderie amongst competitors and guests.

Starting with a sellout crowd on Friday night, almost 100 attendees heard from J/Boats President, Jeff Johnstone, in SDYC’s Frost Room. Johnstone presented on the “Past, Present, and Future of J/Boats”, an appreciated topic for these sailors. Following the first day of racing on Saturday was the spirited “Sending it Back to ‘77” Party on the Spinnaker Deck and Sail Wash Lawn. With the help of 70’s music from the band “Side Traxx” (the lead singer is SDYC member Mike Palumbo), J/Fest sailors fully adopted the theme and time-traveled back to the 1970s, which is very apparent if you look at photos from the event. S/C Kyle Clark won the oldest J/Fest t-shirt competition (J/Fest was started back in 1986) and Rich Bergmann and his crew on ZUNNI BEAR won the best dressed contest, with one crew member decked out in a tie-dyed suit!

On to the racing: Race Committee PRO Becky Ashburn reported sunny and warm conditions on Saturday morning with a light breeze. Winds were about 5 knots in the morning, and Race Committee arrived on station to find a car carrier parked where the weather mark should have been. They moved further south to avoid other obstructions, but that left the J/70s to motor almost 3 miles past Zuniga, which is a long way for those little boats! Luckily, they made to the course with a few minutes to spare.

Races started on time - the 4 J/120s and 9 105s got a clean start and headed out on a 4 leg course. The 13 J/70s, having had too much coffee that morning, couldn't quite settle down, so R/C started with a general recall for that fleet. After that, R/C ran the scheduled 3 races for all 3 fleets, finishing the last race upwind. Course distances were about 4.5 miles for the J/120s, 3.8 miles for the J/105s, and 3 miles for the J/70s.

Ashburn believed that day 2 was forecast to be much breezier. In order to get longer courses with less of a commute for the small boats, R/C set up just outside Zuniga jetty. After chatting with competitors from the fleets, as well as the J/70 Coach (Willem Van Waay, who recently won the J/70 Worlds), R/C made a bit of a change to the lineup. J/120s and J/105s started race 4 on time, and then R/C added a break between fleets so the J/70s had the chance to ping the pin and signal boat while keeping clear of the other fleets - something that was a bit of a problem the day before. This setup seemed to work, making all 3 fleets AND the coach happy- win, win! Sunday’s 2 scheduled races began in wind that started at 9kts and built to over 16kts during the last leg of race 5. One J/70 (Huckleberry) reported rudder damage during race 5 and had to be towed home, but everyone else had a beautiful sail in, with 22kts of breeze in the channel!

Meanwhile, the 3 PHRF boats raced on a random leg course that provided a full tour of San Diego Bay. One race per day was scheduled, and they were to be scored Time on Distance. They ran their longest course option on Saturday and then did the same on Sunday. The breeze picked up so much on Sunday, though, that it ended up being a really short day for Mad Hatter, with just over 1 hour of sail time!

The four class winners were Robert Noe on Mad Hatter (PHRF- 1), John Laun on caper (J/120), Chuck Driscoll on Juiced (J/105), and David Hochart on USA-540 (J/70).

This was Robert Noe’s first class win at J/Fest, though he has won a few races over the years. “The crew and I loved the venue. It had enough wind and a good race course, 12 miles of races for PHRF, and outstanding R/C work. The trophies were outstanding, framed LPs of our favorite old groups. We could not ask for a better two days of racing.”

The 2017 J/Fest marked the fourth time that John Laun and his team on CAPER have been J/Fest class winners. “J/120 fleet racing is a kick. We have a lot of fun with great skippers and crew and exciting close racing. Conditions this weekend were perfect with just enough variety in breeze velocity and shiftiness to make it challenging all the time. My favorite race was the last race, the second one on Sunday – it was the longest course and the most breeze. J/120s really come alive at 16 to 18 knots of breeze.” Behind CAPER, it was a battle for the other podium spots. After starting off slowly with a 2-3-4, Chuck Nichols’ CC RIDER got it going in the end to post a 2-2 to grab the silver. Meanwhile, Scott Hogan’s SHAMROCK nearly threw away a near-certain third place finish after posting a 4-4 on the last day to take 3rd on a tie-breaker over Ernie Pennell’s MAD MEN at 16 pts each.

The J/70 fleet also had an exciting last race on Sunday. There was a tiebreaker going into the last race, which was ultimately won by David Hochart who ended the regatta as the J/70 class winner. “Going into the last race we had to decide whether to go one-on-one vs Team Fly to get more than three points between us to win the regatta. We ultimately decided to start close to them on the line but not be aggressive and sail a clean race. We ended up winning the last race and it was close as they finished fourth which resulted in a tie. Exciting to have the regatta decided by the final race!” By virtue of losing the tie-breaker, taking second was Tony Collins’ FLY. Third was taken by Drew Belk’s KAWAU BAY with 22 pts, followed by Curt Johnson’s AVET 2.01 in fourth with 25 pts and Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU with 26 pts- close-racing, indeed!

Hochart also expressed how he felt the whole weekend of racing went. “My team enjoyed a great event hosted by SDYC, J/Boats, and the event sponsors. We were very fortunate to have the event organizers support Willem Van Waay coaching all teams in the J/70 fleet. It was a rewarding event for the team as we were able to develop our teamwork thru the coaching and learning from other teams.”

The J/105s experienced a solid turnout with most top-teams in attendance. Taking the win was Chuck Driscoll’s JUICED, winning the class handily with three bullets in their score-line for just 8 pts total. However, for the rest of the crews it was an incredibly tight battle for the balance of the podium and, in fact, the top five- just four points separating four places! Second and third place was determined by a tie-breaker at 18 pts apiece, with Steve & Lucy Howell’s BLINK! winning on count-back over Stew Cannon’s J-OK. Just one point back in fourth place was Jeff & Karen Brown’s SWEET KAREN with 19 pts and placing fifth was Rich Bergmann’s ZUNI BEAR with 20 pts! “Holy tightrope” exclaimed Robin to Batman! Where you finished in the last race pretty much determined how you finished overall!

J/Fest thanks their 2017 event sponsors: Pantaenius Yacht Insurance, Shelter Island Boatyard, Novamar Yacht Insurance, Nielsen Beaumont, Rigworks, Ullman Sails, and JK3. In addition to being the title sponsor of the whole event, JK3 provided the entire J/70 fleet the opportunity to receive coaching from Willem Van Waay over the weekend- a very unique and original element of the weekend. For more J/Fest San Diego sailing informationJ/80 China Club Challenge Match Report
(Shenzen, China)- Thirty-seven teams stepped up to the plate for the 13th China Club Challenge Match. Maybe not as many as the organizers had made allowances for but for an event which is only in its 13th year in a nation where sailing is not much older, it is an impressive figure, easily making it the largest one design keelboat regatta in China sailed on a fleet of J/80’s.

There were three days of mainly champagne sailing on the waters off Xiamen. An overused expression perhaps, but in this case, it truly was the real deal. Eleven races scheduled and eleven races sailed over the three days with sailors from the top to the bottom of the fleet giving it their all, but with the huge majority with the right attitude. In fact, the boat that was last in (I think) every race could always be seen with big smiles on their faces and a wave for every support boat that passed close by whether media, umpire or mark boa – that’s what our game should be all about.

The event was overseen by an excellent PRO who set fair windward-leeward courses up and down the sometimes-fierce Equinox tidal current. In fact, when the tide started to go slack on a couple of days the huge number of OCS prompted general recalls with the black flag in evidence. On the final day the BFG threat was enough to pull all the competitors into line for a clean start after their first attempt was more than a little eager, meaning it would have been easier for the race officers to count the legal starters than the OCS boats!!

The racing was kept ‘honest’ by Addendum Q- on-the-water judging provided by a team of sharp eyed umpires, two of whom, John & Wayne were up from New Zealand with Cathy from Hong Kong (also a Kiwi) and Al from China making up the foursome. Although briefed and warned about early bowsprit deployment, the early races saw multiple penalties for over eager use of the prods. But, by the final day the lesson had, it seemed, finally sunk in with only 2-3 red flags for this ‘over eagerness’.

The racing was effectively policed, but with 2 umpire boats for a fleet of 37, many of whom seemed to have an almost magnetic attraction for each other, the on the water hearings were still busy with protests up into double figures at the end of day 2. Strangely, perhaps with the realization that a protestor wasn’t guaranteed a result, or worse still with a reverse decision, many protests were withdrawn. The spirit, however, was an example to sailors everywhere with the losers smiling, willingly shaking hands and the two skippers heading off together to the free beer.

Nowhere was this spirit of sportsmanship better displayed than at the prize-giving dinner at the end of the event. All teams who sailed with at least one female crew member received a point “discount” on their score.

One of the prize-winners realized that this meant that they had received a prize– and that prize was to come back for the match race finals and a nice silver trophy (plus, some Ronstan and Sunrise Marine goodies). Yet, although they had entered with a female crew member, they actually sailed with an all male crew.

When they realized what had happened they immediately informed the committee and handed over the lot to the crew below them. That was almost as cool as the actual team that won the event!

In response to this, Alan, the owner of Sunrise Marine deemed they should keep his contribution to the prizes and awarded an additional set to the replacement winners.

The main trophy remained on its plinth, as in reality the event has just reached its midway stage with 8 teams invited back in around 5 weeks time for the head-to-head match racing element to determine the 2017 champion.

This is an event that is not ‘padded out’ by multiple teams of foreigners engaging in a bit of regatta tourism; every team was from within China. This a country where, 15 years ago, sailing outside vocational provincial teams of Olympic hopefuls was unheard of.

This was an event of sailors trying hard to win for the honor. No big cash prizes, so why is the event proving to be successful, growing in numbers, stature and reputation year-on-year?

Speaking to many competitors, the answers received are not quite unique, but follow a similar vein all the way through. This is a fun event with the balance between the quality of the racing, the competition, the race management, the ‘après-sail’ activities, the adherence to the rules, the camaraderie. Also interesting, were the comments that the competitors felt it was great to leave the race course knowing where they came was where they came with the majority of disputes settled on the water, instead of having to wait for a sometimes long drawn out process in the ‘protest room’. Perhaps, other events in more established areas might learn from this!

It is interesting to note that a well-run event, designed entirely for the benefit of the competitors– call them the “customers” if you like– is growing in this manner, whilst in other, sometimes much more established sailing nations, the concern is about falling rather than rising numbers. Could it be that in some cases the organizers believe it is THEIR event rather than the sailors? The China Club Challenge Match most certainly belongs to the customer. Thanks for the report from “Shanghai Sailor” on SailingAnarchy.comAmerican YC Fall Series Report
(Rye, NY)- American Yacht Club kicked off the Fall regatta season with the first and second days of the 2017 Fall Series. Saturday had near pristine sailing conditions and Sunday brought a much lighter breeze. Nearly 120 boats were listed on the scratch sheet. Competitors came from across the east coast to compete in a regatta that has become a staple of IRC, PHRF one-design classes such as the J/70, J/44, J/105, J/109 and more.

Saturday brought sunshine and northerly oscillating winds with multiple races on each of the two courses. Then, Sunday racing continued with beautiful weather, but the high temperatures translated into lighter wind velocities than hoped for. The AYC Race Committee had their work cut out for them due to light winds. The East Course did their best but were unable to race, and the South Course was able to have one complete race. By the end of the first weekend of Fall Series, competition between classes was tight.

In the J/70 class, Scott and Alex Furnary on ANY COLOUR are leading after posting four 1sts and a 2nd for 4.0 pts net. Sailing nearly as well was Trevor Roach’s SEMI-CHARMED with a 7-2-2-2-1 tally for 7.0 pts net. Then, sitting in third after the weekend was Carrie & Ed Austin’s CHINOOK with a 3-4-3-3-9 record for 13 pts.

The J/105 class saw the St Francis YC duo of Bruce Stone and Nicole Breault compile an unassailable scoreline of 4-1-1-1-2 for 5.0 pts net to lead the class. Second is another past winner of the event, Damian Emery’s ECLIPSE with a 1-2-2-3-5 record for 8.0 pts net. Then, holding on to third is George & Alex Wilbanks’ REVELATION with a 5-3-3-8-1 for 12.0 pts net.

As a measure of how competitive the J/88 fleet has become, not one boat won more than one race. The most consistent team was Doug Newhouse’s YONDER with a 2-1-2-5-2 record for 7.0 pts net. They are leading by just two pts over Elizabeth Barry’s ESCAPE crew that has a 4-3-1-2-3 score for 9.0 pts net. And, sitting in third are two teams tied at 11 pts each- Mike Bruno’s WINGS and Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION.

Continuing to have a good year racing in the J/109 one-design class is David Rosow’s LOKI, currently leading the J/109s with a 4-5-1-2-1 record for 8.0 pts net. Just behind them, it’s a fight for the top spots on the podium with Jon Rechtshaffer’s EMOTICON having a slight edge with a 2-2-3-4-5 score for 11 pts net. One point shy of them sitting in third place is Bengt & Marie Johansson’s ZIG ZAG with a 3-1-2-9-6 for 12 pts net.

Back on form in the J/44 one-design class is Jim Bishop’s famously-green GOLD DIGGER, having a great start to the series with a 1-2-1 for 4.0 pts. Sitting in second is one of their arch-nemesis’, Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE with a 2-3-2 for 7.0 pts. Then, in third is Len Sitar’s VAMP with a 3-1-4 for 8 pts.

In the PHRF handicap racing world, J/Teams are just about cleaning house, sitting atop the podium in many divisions. Leading PHRF 1 Class is Ron Richman’s J/133 ANTIDOTE with a 2-1-1 for 4.0 pts. Second is Neil Hindle’s J/145C MUSKOKA with a 1-2-2 for 5.0 pts. In PHRF 2 Class, the two J/111s are dueling for class supremacy, with David & Maryellen Tortorello’s PARTNERSHIP leading with a 1-2-1 for 4.0 pts, followed by Paul Strauch’s ANDIAMO with a 2-3-2 for 7.0 pts. In PHRF 3 Class, Andy Oeftering’s J/92 SHOOTING STAR currently sits in 4th place.

Overall it was a thrilling weekend of sailing tied to an incredible cause. The excitement will continue next weekend for the final two days of the 2017 Fall Series, followed by the High Performance Regatta and the J/70 North American Championships in the coming weeks. American Yacht Club would like to thank Jim and Judy Wilson for their continuous efforts in organizing another successful Leukemia Cup Regatta. For more American YC Fall Series sailing informationJ/120s Sweep Half Moon Bay Race
(San Francisco, CA)- Over the September 16th weekend, while the famous Rolex Big Boat Series was taking place on San Francisco Bay, the Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco held their annual “Half Moon Bay Race”- a sprint that starts inside the Bay, goes out underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and the fleet turns left to sail south down the coastline to pretty Half Moon Bay.

In the PHRF 2 Doublehanded Class, a trio of J/120s swept the podium, occupying the top three spots in the twenty-five boat class! Winning was the duo of Ludovic & Delphine Millin on SAETTA with a corrected time of 4 hrs 43 min 55 sec. Second was the team of Tracy Rogers & Chris Sena on HOKULANI almost 3 minutes behind. Then, the crew of Sean & Jeff Mulvihill on JAMANI took third place about another 3 minutes back on corrected time. That was quite the tour-de-force for these teams, especially considering they were competing against some lightweight flyers like a Columbia C32, Worth 40, Express 27 and Sun Fast 3200.

The two J/120s- HOKULANI and JAMANI were using this race as part of their preparations for the 2018 Pacific Cup- a 2,300+nm race that goes from San Francisco to Hawaii. For more SSS Half Moon Bay Race sailing informationAtlantic Telegramme Regatta Fun 4 70s, 80s, 111, 122!
(Lorient, France)- The past weekend saw the 18th Atlantic Telegramme Regatta take place in Lorient, France, organized and hosted by the Center Nautique de Lorient. It was a three-day regatta that had 121 sailboats across a wide variety of classes for 800+ sailors. Amongst those fleets were J/70s, J/80s and a J/111 participating in IRC Division.

The sailing on Friday was not optimal, low winds with huge oscillations across the race course area. Then, on Saturday it was almost perfect, with 10-15 kt winds from the southeast. On the closing day on Sunday, a less than idyllic weather scenario played out as a Low (depression) swept across the Bay of Biscay, bringing with it rain, fog, and good breezes from the southwest. In the end, the J/70 and J/80 classes enjoyed a lot of racing, both getting in a total of eight races.

In the J/70 class, it was “fratricidal warfare” between the two brothers Phillipe and Eric Guigne- in fact, it was a friendly family battle, too. After compiling seven 1sts, it was Phillippe’s crew on VIRTUAL REGATTA 70 that won quite handily with just 9 pts total. His crew consisted of Damien Scelo, Tanguy Caron, and Benjamin Diouris. Second was his brother Eric on FORCE G sailing with a complete family crew that included Antoine Guigne, Adrien Guigne, and Gregroire Guigne! Finally, in third place was Ivan Damon’s JUNIOR SANGALKAM with crew of Lucie Ribet, Eric Kescaven, and Matthieu Kloek.

Over on the handicap racing classes, it was the J/122 MUSIX winning IRC 2 Division, skippered by Philippe Baetz from La Trinité sur Mer. Then, in the Osiris 2 class, it was Patrice Vidon’s J/111 J4F that handily won their class, too. For more Atlantic Telegramme Regatta sailing informationSCOOBY Scoops J/22 East Coast Champs!
(Eastport, MD)- The Eastport Yacht Club hosted 16 teams for the J/22 East Coast Championships, held in the waters of the northern Chesapeake Bay. The EYC RC team managed to run six races over the two-day event that produced a surprising last minute winner!

On the first day, the clear leader of the regatta was Mike Marshall’s BAD NEWS from Jamestown, RI with a 2-1-2 tally for 5 pts total. Not far off that pace was JR Maxwell’s SCOOBY, a local team from Annapolis YC with a 3-4-1 scoreline for 8 pts. Then, sitting in third after Saturday’s racing was Chris Junge’s THE CORNER OF SANITY & MADNESS with a 5-2-3 tally for 10 pts.

Sunday’s racing brought about a dramatic change in the overall standings. While they won the first race, Marshall’s crew lived up to their boat’s name, having some “bad news” for their final two races- posting a 3-10 to throw away their regatta lead and finish in second with 19 pts.

With steady scores of 2-2-1, Maxwell’s SCOOBY easily ended up winning the event with 13 pts total. Taking third for the regatta was Jeff Todd’s HOT TODDY from Annapolis YC, posting a consistent scoreline of 1-6-4-5-4-3 for 23 pts total. Rounding out the top five was Junge’s crew with 24 pts in fourth and Brad Julian’s team on USA 677 in fifth place with 37 pts. For more J/22 East Coast Championship sailing informationPEK: SPORT Wins Act VI- Russian J/70 Sailing LeagueMoscow QPRO Sailing Team Leads Overall Series
(Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)- Lying 400 km east of Moscow’s famous Red Square, the confluence of the famous Volga and Oka Rivers and the famous Kremlin fort and Chkalov Stairs overlooking the sailing area, was the setting for the sixth regatta in the Russian J/70 Sailing League. The city of Nizhny Novgorod (once called Gorky- in honor of the famous Russian novelist- Maxim Gorky) was initially famous as “the Detroit of Russia” and is now home to three-dozen high-tech R&D centers and is, essentially, the I.T. center of Russia (even INTEL has 500 engineers in R&D working there!).

Eleven teams from across Russia showed up for the penultimate regatta at Nizhny in the season-long Russia J/70 Sailing League that started out in April at the famous Black Sea resort of Sochi and will finish the season there for their Grand Finale. Those teams included Koreg Sailing Team (Sochi, helmsman Oleg Kuzmin), QPRO Sailing Team (Moscow, Egor Zuev), CARAMBA! (Moscow, Dmitry Kuznetsov), Calypso (Tuapse/ Moscow, Vladimir Shishkin), Traktor Sailing Team (Chelyabinsk, Eduard Podshivalov), PEK: SPORT (Moscow, Maxim Kuzmin), Ugar Crew (Moscow, Alisa Kirilyuk), ZidArt Sailing Team Moscow, Zoran Paunovich), Team Nizhny Novgorod Children's River Shipping Company (Nizhny Novgorod, Danila Lysanov), Tramontana (Nizhny Novgorod, Yuri Luzhbin), and the Winners Sailing Team (St. Petersburg, Victor Kapitonenko).

The sailing teams were treated with good sailing conditions all weekend-long. Each team sailed 27 races, seven on Friday, thirteen on Saturday, and thirteen more on Sunday!

The winner of the regatta was Moscow’s PEK: SPORT, which was skippered by Maxim Kuzmin; the crew consisted of Vadim Filatov, Dmitry Ievlev, Dmitry Popkov and Konstantin Besputin. This team is unique. They joined the Russian J/70 Sailing League at the fourth stage of the season in Pskov (Krivsk). They won the regatta, repeated their winning performance in St. Petersburg, and now they did the same in Nizhny Novgorod! An amazing performance!

The first day PEK: SPORT did not perform well. But then, they found their form and after the second day of sailing ended up in 2nd overall in the provisional rankings. Then, after another solid performance on Sunday’s finale, they had six 1sts and 14 more podium finishes!

Taking the silver for the regatta was another Moscow team- QPRO Sailing Team with skipper Egor Zuev, and crew of Denis Rozhkov, Alexander Grishunin and Vyacheslav Bukin. While leading the regatta after Saturday with a phenomenal four-race winning streak, they could not keep it together on Saturday. Ultimately, they finished 11 pts back behind Maxim and her crew of sailing mercenaries.

The bronze was taken by the Sochi KOREG Sailing Team, skippered by Oleg Kuzmin with crew of Inal Berbekov, Artem Avetisyan, Andrei Ignatenko and Yulia Dmitrienko. The gap between silver and bronze was only 4 points.

“On the final day of the regatta, a stable western wind blew with a force of 12 knots,” said Chief RC PRO Dmitriy Shatagin. “The race was held at a high pace. I managed to run 13 starts, and it was very good! At the end of the final day, the protests were again brought to the finish line, but many of them were, shall we say, "dismantled" between the skippers themselves. In general, all three racing days were successful, and with excellent weather. Impressions are positive."

"This is the third regatta for us in the league and the third time we win," said Vadim Filatov of PEK: SPORT. “Dmitry Ievlev and I have been engaged in rally-raids for six years, and now sailing became the next page of our lives. And, we never regretted that we came to yachting!! This is the kind of sport where emotions overwhelm, where you start every 20 minutes in a new race. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose! It turns out that throughout the racing day something new is always happening. This is an unforgettable experience. An unforgettable holiday! There are not enough words- many emotions. I'm ready to scream, laugh! The sailing is so cool!”

“It was not easy- the weather conditions did not allow us to relax,” said the helmsman of the team-winner- Maxim Kuzmin. “In the first race day, the wind changed very much, in the second the wind also made its own corrections. But, the third day did not disappoint me, it was even, though weaker, than the day before. The race was significantly influenced by the current: it was possible to make a very big mistake at the start, well, in the course of the race, too, it was necessary to take this moment into account ... The regatta was chasing 11 teams, which is a record for the Premier Division. Plus, some of the teams have intensified their efforts with new crew for the Premier Division. Accordingly, the intensity of the struggle was high, and nothing was clear until the finish. Only 5 minutes before the award, we learned that we became champions!”

"We went through the regatta well," says Yegor Zuev, from the Moscow-based QPRO Sailing Team. “The rivals are strong, the fleet is very even. The water area is non-standard, with a strong current, with good wind conditions. Everything is great, but I would like to see that in the Premier Division there was direct refereeing on the water, which would allow making the right decisions immediately on the water.”

"The race was interesting, tense," says Oleg Kuzmin, the coach of the Koreg Sailing Team from Sochi. “The fight was going on until the last day, until the last start. We tried to show the best result, and won third place. The water area is not easy: the current, which always makes its own corrections, and the wind here is also complicated- unstable. The first race day was generally something for everyone! But, even in these conditions, we tried to show everything we could. As for our rivals, with each stage they are all more serious and serious. Many tried to strengthen their teams, so in one of the teams they recruited the current Melges 32 World Champion and the Melges 20 European Champion- Konstantin Besputin. Is this a world-class level here in the middle of Russia- on the Volga River in Nizhny!? The panel of judges worked remarkably well, the race was going well, without delay. Thanks to the hard work of the judges, good fellows.”

The Grand Finale for the Russian J/70 Sailing League takes place in Sochi (site of the Winter Olympics) from October 19-22.

So far, six stages have been held in Sochi, Sevastopol, Moscow, Pskov (Krivsk), St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. After the 6th stage, the leading troika has not changed for the overall series. Leading at the current time is the QPRO Sailing Team from Moscow, followed by the KOREG Sailing Team from Sochi in second place, then the CARAMBA! Team from Moscow in third, the CALYPSO Team from Yuapse/Moscow in fourth and the PEK: SPORT Team from Moscow in 5th place!

The organizers wish to “Thank” the government and the Ministry of Sport of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the sailing association of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the hosts for this stage- the YC Leto and the Tramontana Sailing Club, as well as the Nizhny Novgorod Children's River Shipping company and, personally, the Commander Vladimir Ivanovich Dyakov.

J/CommunityWhat friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
-----------* Stephane Azzoni- a J/80 and J/92 sailor from Spain reports- “I would like to share the pleasure I always have sailing my J/92 and now my J/80, single handed or with crew, fantastic boats really! I am still playing the lottery, let’s see if I'm lucky and I can buy a J/121…” Stephane continues to explain his love for J/Boats:

“I bought my J/92 after sailing a Mini-Transat 6.50 for some years: I was looking for a more versatile boat, that would allow me to bring onboard my small family for some short cruises, as well as to do some single-hand racing.

I found "Geronimo" near Barcelona, in a port where she had been quietly resting for 3 years. She was equipped with a new set of sails, almost never used.

After renaming the boat "Vol De Nuit" (from a Saint Exupéry novel), doing a basically cosmetic refit and buying a new running rigging in Dyneema, I started sailing and training in this nice playground that is the Costa Brava.

I regularly took part in some very interesting coastal and offshore singlehanded regattas.

I mostly remember one, the Dragonera, from El Balis (a port located a few miles to the north of Barcelona) to the island named La Dragonera, located to the South West of Mallorca Island.

I say mostly because I had the chance to win the regatta (in compensated time) for 1 minute and 30 seconds on the second boat, after 120 miles and 21+ hours of racing, a 49 feet skippered by a great navigator who would then become a great friend and with who I continue to sail doublehanded on his magnificent X46.

After that regatta I brought the boat to Pollença, on the North part of Mallorca, a beautiful bay with plenty of small beaches to anchor. My family arrived by plane and we spent a week sailing and enjoying the bay every day.

The J/92 is more a day boat than a cruiser, the headroom inside is limited and the kitchen minimalist, but the cockpit is huge. Anyway, as it was the end of June, we spent most of our time outside and had some really great holidays onboard.

Under sail she's an easy boat, stable, fast under asymmetric spinnaker and perfect for solo sailing as well as for sailing without an experienced crew.

I sold "Vol de Nuit" to her new owner, a very kind Greek sailor who made the delivery by sea from Spain to Greece with some friends. We are still in touch and he's enjoying a lot sailing and racing his new toy. According to the latest news from him, she's the boat to beat in the local fleet, winning almost every race out there.

After that I briefly owned a racing boat of 35 feet and finally bought my actual toy, a J/80 named "Valentina": she's really an amazing boat.

I mounted an autopilot Raymarine ST2000+ to be able to sail single-hand, but my program is mainly the local club regattas with a small crew, and the J/80 regattas with the Barcelona fleet, with a crew of young guns coming from the dinghy world, and full of talent.

And what a level in this fleet in Spain!! These guys have been sailing their J/80 for 6 years or more now, and they do it very, very well: the first 5 are really impressive.

Every time I have the chance to sail with them, I learn a lot and realize how much I still have to learn from the boat and from them.

I can only speak well of the J/80. If I consider the J/92 to be a good boat, for me the J/80 is nearly perfect in this size: well-built, strong, easy to handle, very fast under asymmetric spinnaker, and at the same time very stable, with a tremendous marine behavior for a 8 meter boat only, as at ease with 5 knots of wind, than with 25 or more.

It also appears to be very competitive under ORC handicap in a mix fleet. This year, we even won a local championship (in our class and overall in corrected time), in windy conditions, beating a TP52, a DK46, a GS44R and some 40 and 35 feet boats, after a coastal race the first day and 2 windward leeward races the day after, amazing!!

A very important thing I would like to add is that, unlike most of the large-scale production shipbuilders, when I call J-Composites in France for some technical advice, there is always a technician available to inform me- great service!!

That said, I must admit being in love with the J/111 and the J/122. Therefore, I keep on playing the lottery, just in case luck smiles at me and allows me to buy a J/121: my absolute dream!! Fair winds to everybody. Best regards, Stephane Azzoni”